Press Release

Abortion rights proponents may have had a secret weapon − fed-up Republican women − when they notched a big win in Ohio last week. Analysts say that could spell trouble for the GOP in 2024.

Ohio’s Issue 1, a hard-fought referendum that enshrined abortion rights in the ruby-red state’s constitution despite the opposition of the state’s powerful Republican party and leading churches, passed Nov. 7 with more than 56% of the vote.

While it’s too soon to have any concrete data, Republican strategist Susan Del Percio said the Ohio ballot measure is a strong indication that some GOP women are breaking from the party on key issues.

A result like Ohio's "doesn't happen unless Republican women also participate,” Del Percio said. “They may not create the high turnout, but they have to be part of the turnout. Otherwise, you can't get those numbers.”

Among the women who turned out in favor of the abortion amendment was Carol Roll, 66, of Green Township, Ohio. Despite typically voting Republican, Roll said she voted for Issue 1 because she feared its defeat would open the door to the government having access to her medical records.

"And I feel if somebody has been raped, they have every right to have an abortion," Roll said.

Nine percent of Republican women, many repelled by Donald Trump, voted for Biden in 2020.

That was the same year lifelong Republican Susan Burrow, 67, said she decided to drop her party affiliation.

The self-described social conservative of Amherst, New Hampshire, says she doesn’t recognize the party that once so closely aligned with her values.

“I don’t want to be a part of it because I feel like it’s lost its mind,” said Burrow.

Many conservative women like Burrow have been jumping the GOP ship or resisting its Trump-ward lurch since the 2016 presidential election, Del Percio said.

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Read the rest of this story here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/11/15/republican-party-abortion-women-voters-problem/71516754007/

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